Combined candelabra and flower holder



April 14, 1953 E. J. WOLTER COMBINED CANDELABRA AND FLOWER-j-HOLDERFiled Feb. 1, 1949 IN VEN TOR. WW

Patented Apr. 14, 1953 COMBINED CANDELABRA AND FLOWER HOLDER Ernst J.Wolter, Chicago, Ill.

Application February 1, 1949, Serial N0. 73,973

2 Claims.

This invention relates to a combined candelabra and flowerholder, andmore particularly to such devices as are generally used at weddings,receptions and similar occasions.

- Ordinarily in such casesa caterer is employed. whose duty it is toarrange the settings, and in such settings candles and flowers areconstantly used. Such caterers of necessity do not employ expensivecandelabra or flower'holders and great difiiculty has been encounteredin obtaining devices suitable for such, purposes.

' The occasion for which such devices are used is generally ornate andthe host or hostess is concerned in having the premises decorated in thesmartest fashion possible. The candelabra and ilowerholder must,therefore, present a pleasing appearance to be acceptable. Because ofrepeated use and the necessary shape of the candelabra now employed theysoon become dented and otherwise damaged and appear ugly to the eye.Furthermore, the matter of storage becomes a problem, for as now'designed the candelabra are all of an awkward shape, incapable of beingproperly or compactly stored, and the flower containers which aregenerally separate devices complicate the storage problem. In addition,the matter of placement of such devices is often complicated by the factthat no proper support for them can be found in the desired location.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a combinedcandelabra and flowerholder which will avoid the faults of the prior artand which may easily be hung from any support.

It is an important object of this invention to provide a combinedcandelabra and flowerholder which is easily and inexpensivelymanufactured and which can be hung in any convenient place.

Still another object is to provide a device which, when not in use, canbe easily disassembled and just as easily stored in a minimum amount ofspace.

These and many other objects and advantages will appear throughout theprogress of the following specification.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the selected embodiment of theinvention and the views therein are as follows:

Fig. 1 is a front view of the combined candelabra and flowerholdershowing in dotted outline an adjustable position of the swingablebrackets;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the back plate with the flower containerbroken away and the candle carrying rods removed showing the clampingelements for the candle rods and swingable brackets;

Fig. 3 is a side view partially broken away showing the candle carryingrod in position on the clamping element and the sleeve on the outsideleg of the swingable bracket;

Fig. 4 is a bottom view taken on line 4# of Fig. 1;.

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken on line 6-B of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged view of the elastic grommet;

Describing the invention in detail and referring to the illustratedembodiment, the numeral Ill designates a back plate which is shown to berectangular in form but which may be of any desired shape. It ispreferred to make such back plate of steel although any desired materialsuch 4 as tin, alvanized iron, wood or plastic may be used. Permanentlysecured to the back plate in by spot welding, riveting or by any otherwell known method and in spaced relation to each other is a plurality ofidentical clamping elements l2, each of said clamping elements having atransversely extending ear I4 at its upper end and an identicaltransversely extending ear It at its lower end. The said ears l4 and I6form with apertures 58 and 2d the upper and lower apertures ofeachclamping element l2, bel ng in register with each other.

While the embodiment of the back plate as shown and above describeddesignates the employment of the clamping elements l2, it is to beunderstood that the invention is not limited thereto, for it is fullyappreciated that the back plate i ii may be formed by stamping orotherwise with a plurality of transversely extending apertured 'fiangesin series, the flanges of each series being disposed in longitudinalalignment one above the other, having their apertures in longitudinalregister, and that such construction is the full equivalent of theconstruction shown.

' Inserted in each of the apertures l3 and 20 is a resilient grommet 22made of rubber or other suitable resilient material having an opening23, the said grommets 22 being firmly anchored in position by the groove26 as shown in Fig. 6. The cross-sectional area of the openings of saidgrommets are of a predetermined size and shape for reasons hereinafterset forth. There is provided a plurality of candle-carrying rods 26 anda pair of swingable bracket members 28 and 30 for mounting in clampingelements 12 on back plate I0 It is important that the cross sectionalarea of the rods and brackets be slightly greater than the opening 23 ofthe grommets 22.

The candle-carrying rods 26 and the swingable brackets 23 and 33 aremounted on the back plate It] by inserting said rods and brackets in thealigned openings 23 on each clamping element l2, as clearly shown inFigs. 1 and 5. The cross sectional area of each rod and bracket beingslightly greater than the opening 23 of the resilient grommet 22, thesaid rods and brackets are firmly gripped and held in any desiredlongitudinal position without possibility of independent movement. Yetby application of a slight external force the rods may be adjustedeither, upwardly or downwardly and may even be easily removed from theirmountings when desired.

The swingable brackets 28 and 30 are shaped in the form of an invertedU, the inner leg of each bracket member being mounted upon the 7 backplate as previously described and the outer legs extending beyond thesides of the back plate as shown in Fig. 1. The lower portion of theinner leg of each of said bracket member is bent substantially at rightangles, as shown at 32 in Fig. 4, to prevent removal of said swingablebrackets from the back plate, and a spring tension member 34 detachablysecured to each bent portion, as shown in Fig. 5, urges the outer legsof said bracket members forwardly. The said outer legs of each bracketmember when the said brackets are swung rearwardly may be hooked on anyavailable support. The tension created by the spring member 34 whichurges said legs to a forward position keeps the holder s'ecureupon anysupport. Said outer legs may be provided with sleeves 36 made of softcushioning material to prevent marring or scratching the support.

The flower container 38 is permanently secured to said back plate ID byclamping, welding, riveting or otherwise. It has been found that goodresults may be achieved by folding the side edges of the back plate overthe corresponding side ends of the container as shown at 40 in Fig. 4,although equally satisfactory results may be achieved by other wellknown methods.

It is preferred that the flower container be made in the form of abasket using material such as brushed expanded metal, the openings beingemployed for the passage of flower stems. The container 38 may be of anydesired breadth and depth and when the flowers are inserted therein theyeffectively conceal all of the back plate. The swingable brackets beingalso concealed by the support on which the holder is hung, all of theholder that is exposed to view when in use are the gracefulcandle-carrying rods 24 emerging from a mass of flowers. The said rods24 may be bent at any designated place along their longitudinal axis, asat 42, to impart further attractiveness to their appearance, and thecombined candelabra and flowerholder may be bronzed or painted forsimilar reasons.

There is thus provided a new and improved candelabra and flowerholderwhich is easily and inexpensively manufactured, attractive in appearanceand capable of being disassembled and stored in a minimum of space. Itmay also be seen that the said device, because of its construction, willmaintain its appearance and may be hung much more conveniently than thedevices of the prior art.

It is to be understood that the above described embodiment of theinvention is merely by way of illustration and that changes may be madein form and construction without departing from the spirit of theinvention or sacrificing any of its advantages, and the right is herebyreserved to make all changes as fairly fall within the scope of thefollowing claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent ofthe United States is as follows:

1. A combination candelabra and flowerholder comprising a back plate, aplurality of flanges extending transversely from said back plate, saidflanges being positioned in pairs in predetermined relation on said backplate, one flange of each pair being disposed above the other iniongitudinal alignment, an aperture of predetermined size and shape ineach flange, the apertures in each pair of flanges being in registerwith each other, a resilient grommet securely anchored in the flangeaperture, each of said grommets having an opening therein slightly lessin cross-sectional area than the cross-sectional area of candle-carryingrods and swingable brackets to be mounted therein, a plurality ofcandle-carrying rods mounted in said grommet openings and longitudinallyadjustable therein, a pair of swingable inverted U-shaped bracketmembers carried by said plate, the inner legs of said bracket membersbeing mounted in preselected grommet openings, the lower end of eachinner member being bent to prevent re moval of said brackets from saidopenings and the outer leg of each bracket extending beyond the sides ofsaid back plate to permit said brackets to swing rearwardly for hangingsaid holder upon a support, spring tension mean connecting the lowerends of the inner legs of said brackets, said tension means beingadapted .to urge each bracket to a forward position, and a, frontflowers.

2. A combination candelabra and flowerholder comprising a back plate, aplurality of clamping elements permanently secured to said back plate,-

each clamping element having a transversely extending ear at its upperand lower end in longitudinal alignment, an aperture of predeterminedsize and shape in each ear of each clamping element, said aperturesbeing in register with each other, resilient grommets securely anchoredin each aperture, said grommets having openings slightly less incross-sectional area than the cross-sectional area of candle-carryingrods and swingable brackets to be mounted therein, a plurality ofcandle-carrying rods mounted in spaced relation in said grommetopenings, a pair of swingable inverted U-shaped bracket members carriedby said plate, the inner legs of said bracket members being mounted inpreselected grommet openings, the lower end of each innerleg being bentto prevent removal of said brackets from said openings and the outer legof each bracket extending beyond the side of said back plate to permitsaid brackets to swing rearwardly for hanging said holder upon asupport, spring tension means connecting the lower ends of the innerlegs of said brackets, said tension means being adapted to urge eachbracket to a forward position, and a front plate affixed to said backplate and spaced therefrom to form a container to receive and retainflowers.

ERNST J. WOLTER.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 7 D. 129,286 Hayt Sept. 2, 1941 D. 154,901 Bussey Aug. 23,1949 D. 156,472 Wolter Dec. 13, 1949 347,873 'Gehnrich Aug. 24, 1886363,679 Reed May 24, 1887 1,204,134 Connolly Nov. 7, 1916' 2,101,578Hall Dec. 7, 1937- 2,115,962 Orme May 3, 1938 2,151,192 Crosser Mar. 21,1939- 2,332,286 Winsick' 1-; Oct. 19, 1943 2,381,253 Bierwert Aug. 7,1945' FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country 1 Date 677,188 France Dec. 7, 1929.

